CCR

    The short film I created was based on personal experience and started with a thought I had in the middle of the night before going to sleep. I watched this pianist on Tik Tok play a beautiful melody, and the caption said, "Picture a world while closing your eyes." In my head, I created a beautiful scene of a girl running from something in the rain and then a gentleman curing her of her sadness as he holds up the umbrella for her. In the end, the gentleman did the same thing her ex did to her and was found running away in the rain again. Only to find another gentleman offering his umbrella, but this time she came prepared with her own. She learned at that moment that she didn't need a man to cure her of her sadness; what she needed was time to reflect and love herself first. 

    This was the basis of my short film. Although the script I had initially created did not work because at no point of the day when my actors or I were available did it rain. So the screenplay changed with the weather at the time. Since it was December and chilly, I had switched the umbrella to a jacket, and instead of rain, I switched it to the nighttime so that the effect of darkness would still come through the screen.

    The majority of the scenes shot at night show the gloom the character is going through, and the shots during the day signify her happiness. At the end of the film, it is still shot at night, but there is a lighter feel. She finds peace even while feeling that same sadness to show her growth. At the end of the scene, I wanted the film to end the same way it started, a fade in and fade out of the stars. Growing Films is all about growing as a character and evolving to the next stage. For future films, I direct I intend to brand my films by the beginning, and the ending of the film always align. 

    The audience I was trying to capture were people like me, naive young women who think they need a prince charming to save their day. The reason for doing this kind of film was because only a few filmmakers created a story where the character developed and didn't need that person or object at the end. If they did, they would usually end it with a tragedy of the man/woman dying at the end of that object being taken away from them. It is the 21st century, and women are still waiting for men to come around. 

    There has been a lot of progress for women as they are now CEOs of big-time companies like Youtube or AMD. However, women are still being held back by society or their own thoughts of "I can't do this." 'I can't' is a mindset that should never even be a thought. I hope that the viewer can understand my short film and see it as a chance to take life into their own hands. 

    The costumes and makeup appeal to my audience as the clothes chosen were based on the latest fashion trends using stores like H&M, American Eagle, and thrift shops. The makeup is modernized using new beauty techniques like naturalization instead of full face. One of the most popular reality tv series, Love Island, is being watched between the two main characters as this is what some couples would be doing on a typical Friday night. 

    The short film came out relatively well, as I enjoyed filming and deciding which shots and angles I wanted to take. Using close-ups to show the emotions of the main character crying or long shots to show how long the moments felt by herself or together with her partner. 

    I have had plenty of experience analyzing shots from shows or movies last year from taking the AS level of Media Studies course. I researched more on romance films for my film since the basis of the short film is romance. When researching, I realized some movies have multiple back-to-back shots without dialogue and music playing in the background like a montage. Filmmakers would do this so that all attention is on the picture and the viewer can get the feel of the emotions being presented. I wanted to implement this for when the main character was in a couple and create a happy movie montage. When the movie comes back to conflict, there is dialogue, and when the dispute is resolved, it cuts the conversation and transitions to a monologue. This was done purposely to express the main character's self-reflection on how they are better by themselves.  

    One of the most significant issues in producing the film was not changing the script but the need for more equipment. Since I don't own a high-quality digital camera, I used my iPhone 13 Pro. Sometimes the camera would not focus or look grainy because of the lack of light. So to help with the graininess, one of my friends held up two flashlights while I filmed the scenes. 

    Another issue was the editing. Putting videos together to make smooth transitions were easy enough because if something didn't flow, it was easily noticeable, but the audio was the main issue. Some scenes had to be silenced because of the background noise, or I couldn't find the perfect background music for the shot that matched the image in my head. So I had to do voice-overs or find sound effects that fit the scenes almost perfectly, which had taken hours and days to finish. Plus, the actors did not want to reshoot many of the scenes. 

    There is always room for improvement. For example, shooting the shots better, creating a better script, and researching more on editing. But this being my first ever film written, directed, and produced myself, doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to get the message across.